Admission Requirements

General Requirements

Advanced
practice registered nurses who hold a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) and
are certified as a Nurse Practitioner or a Nurse Anesthetist are eligible to
apply for admission to the Doctor of Nursing Practice program of study. Applicants with a Clinical Nurse Specialist
who are currently certified will be considered. Applicants must:

submit an application for admission with the
Gannon University Graduate Admissions Office by April 15 for the following
Fall semester

provide official transcripts of all previous
academic work

have a 3.5 out of 4.0 overall GPA in their
Master’s work

submit three letters of recommendation; one from
an academic professional (faculty who knows the student’s ability to do
independent academic work), one from an employer, and one from a professional
who can address the candidate’s advanced practice ability

submit a complete portfolio (either e-attach or
hard copy) to the nursing admissions committee The portfolio should be either
e-mailed in its entirety to Dr. Kathleen Patterson at patterso018@gannon.edu or mailed in
its entirety to: Dr. Kathleen Patterson, Villa Maria School of Nursing, Gannon
University, 109 University Square, Erie, PA 16541. The portfolio should be
submitted by April 15 and include the following:

a professional resume;

a copy of a current license and advanced
practice license;

evidence of active certification and current
CEUs;

course description of a graduate level
statistics course (if one has been completed);

a synopsis or evidence of a thesis or evidence-based practice project completed at the Master’s level;

an essay (limited to 500 words) about the
direction or intent of a capstone project of study;

present the portfolio at an interview with faculty.

Research Requirements

Applicants
must present evidence of a research thesis or evidence-based project based on
research to be considered for admission to the DNP program. If not completed at the MSN level, students
will be required to complete the research core at Gannon University to include
GNURS 650 Nursing Research (3 cr), GNURS 651 Research Seminar (3 cr), GNURS 721
Thesis Guidance (3 cr). This will increase the credit program from 26 to 35
credits post-masters.